Dimitris Avramopoulos

The challenges, problems and opportunities created by the refugee crisis will be the focus of the 15th meeting of the Transatlantic Council on Migration which will take place on Jan. 17-19 in Berlin with the participation of politicians, heads of organizations and researches from around the world.

The EU has invited officials of Denmark, Sweden and Germany to an emergency meeting on Wednesday after the two Scandinavian countries tightened border checks in a bid to cope with the worst migration crisis in Europe since WWII.

No-one should ever be detained for the sole reason that he or she is an asylum seeker, said speakers in a debate on Wednesday evening. To apply for asylum is a basic human right, and detention can only be used as a measure of last resort, they insisted.

“The most important element of the new European Border and Coast Guard Agency is that it goes beyond what Frontex was able to do, but that we do not replace member states’ responsibilities and definitely not their sovereignty,” European Commissioner for Migration and Internal Affairs Dimitris Avramopoulos said in the European Parliament Plenary session on the European Border and Coast Guard.

Greek Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas paid a visit to the Tae Kwon Do indoor stadium that Greek authorities have transformed into a hospitality center for migrants. The minister visited the shelter on Saturday following an outbreak of violence and bickering between Moroccan migrants and other groups that forced police to intervene.

Greece, like other countries, was not ready at the beginning to deal with the huge flow of refugees, Commissioner for Immigration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos pointed out at TA NEA newspaper. However, he has recently seen efforts to be accelerated.

The European Union is considering a plan to form a permanent external border control force that could be deployed if it deems that a member state needs help to guard its frontiers even without the EU country’s consent.

The introduction of the new European Border and Coast Guard is expected to be announced officially by the European Commission on Tuesday.

The refugee issue continues to be one of the most important topics for Greek government following yesterday’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s acknowledgment that Greece risks of becoming a ‘storehouse’ of refugees.

“Europe is facing an unprecedented migratory crisis and Italy is at the frontline. But Italy cannot manage this alone. We have to work all together to develop and implement European solutions.” stated Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos at the Constitutional Affairs and European Affairs Committees of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Senate of the Italian Parliament

The European Commission has drawn up proposals to create a 1,000-strong EU borders and coastguard agency to help secure the bloc's external borders in reaction to the migrant crisis, a top official said on Dec. 11.